


Brainwashed

by confusedbiscuit



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Multi, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confusedbiscuit/pseuds/confusedbiscuit
Summary: It was always said that being the winner of the final splatfest could give people feeling of intense power.Of course, no one actually BELIEVED that until now.Welcome to a totally original AU where order won the final fest. Marina has shaped Inkopolis into a more orderly state, brainwashing our favorite cephalopods in the process!The remains of Team Chaos aren't satisfied though,  and in between figuring out how to hide from the members of Team Order, they're trying to bring, er, CHAOS back to Inkopolis.
Relationships: Agent 3/Agent 8 (Splatoon), Agent 4/Marie (Splatoon), Aloha/Army (Splatoon), Bobble/Mask (Splatoon), Emperor/N-Pacer (Splatoon), Goggles/Rider (Splatoon), Headphones/Skull (Splatoon), Marina/Pearl (Splatoon)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Introduction (please read)

Hi there! Welcome to brainwashed. A Splatoon fanfiction that takes place in AU where Order won the final fest.

This work has been rated 12-17 for the following reasons:

-Mild and infrequent swearing

-Fantasy violence

-Mentions of trauma and self harm

-Possible mild adult humor

There will be some shipping in this, it's a fanfiction duh.

The following ships are as followed:

Agent 24

M4rie

Pearlina

Empacer

Army X Aloha

Goggles X Rider

Bobblemask (mentions)

Skullphones (mentions)

Prince/Laceless (mentions / onesided on Laceless' side)

Now on the the characters-

Format: Name - Age -Sexuality - Short description

Marina - 19 - Bisexual - Leader of team order and in charge of New Inkopolis. 

Pearl - 22 Homosexual - Leader of team chaos and in charge of the rebellion

Marie - 20 - Bisexual - Member of team order. Under control

Callie - 20 - Heterosexual - Member of team chaos but currently under Marina's control

Tanya/Agent 3 - 17- Homosexual - Member of team Chaos and part of the rebellion. Part of the Squidbeak group.

Natasha/Agent 4 - 19 - Homosexual - Member of team order. Under control

Tina/Agent 8 - 17 - Pansexual - Member of team order. Under control.

Aloha - 17 - Homosexual - Member of the rebellion and team chaos. Part of the squidbeak group.

Army - 17 - Bisexual - Member of team order. Under control

Cobbler - 16 - Bisexual. Member of the rebellion and team chaos. Short. Part of the Squidbeak group.

Naomi - 15 - Heterosexual - Member of the rebellion and team chaos. Part of the squidbeak group. Octoling.

Prince - 15 - Heterosexual - Member of Team order and the rebellion. Part of the squidbeak group. 

Emperor- 19 - Heterosexual - Member of team order. Under control.

N-Pacer - 19 - Bisexual - Member of team order. Status unknown.

Eging Jr. - 19 - Bisexual - Member of team chaos and the rebellion. 

Laceless - 14 - Pansexual - Member of team order. Status unknown. 

Mask - 17 - Heteromantic Asexual - Member of team chaos and the rebellion

Skull - 17- Heterosexual - Member of team order. Status unknown

Goggles - 17 - Pansexual - Member of team chaos and the rebellion

Rider - 17 - Bisexual - Member of team order, under control.

Specs - 17 - Heterosexual - Member of team order. Under control

Bobble - 17 - Heterosexual - Member of team chaos and the rebellion.

Headphones - 17 - Bicurious - Member of team order. Status unknown

Captain Cuttlefish - ??? - Who knows - An old man


	2. News Report!

Welcome to new Inkopolis! The new and improved version of Inkopolis where everyone is happy!

"I hate this stupid ad." A female inkling growled.

"It seems to get worse every time there's a new one." A female octoling agreed.

"You hate all of these ads." A male inkling sighed.

"Can you blame her though? They're all stupid." The female octoling, who's name was Naomi, replied

"Yeah, but we're going to have to deal with them for now." The male inkling, named Prince, pointed out.

"For now?" Another male inkling remarked. "I swear, it feels like years."

"Really Aloha? It feels like 3 days that a lot happened." The first female spoke.

"That's 'cause you're always in panic mode, Cobbler." Naomi laughed. Cobbler stuck her tongue out.

"Guys, seriously." Prince sighed. "I'm trying to hear the report."

"The report? What report? It's the same news each time." Naomi said.

"It's still important."' Prince snapped.

"Okay guys, quiet down." Cobbler exclaimed.

"You're only saying that because you think he's cute~" Aloha teased.

"I mean yeah." Cobbler shrugged. "Everyone does."

"Cobbler likes Prince? I thought she- " Naomi piped up.

"I don't. I just agree with the public and think he's a sweetheart. Aloha's just being mean." Cobbler responded, cutting Naomi off.

"You sound like Marina..." Prince sighed. "Oh Pearlie your little brother is such a sweetie!" Prince said, imitating the popstar.

Everyone laughed for a second, before Aloha spoke up.

"Y'know I really wish this didn't have to happen." Aloha frowned. Everyone mumbled in agreement.

"Wait, Pearl's talking to our group!" Prince exclaimed. Everyone silenced.

"As for the Squidbeak group... Nothing."

"Told you." Naomi smirked.

"You were right Naomi..." Prince sighed. Naomi smiled.

"Don't feel too bad, it wasn't like we were expecting anything different." She shrugged.

"That's true... It's just I wish something would change for the better, hopefully sooner rather than later." Prince said.

"Don't lose hope though!" Cobbler chirped, putting her hand on Prince's shoulder. Prince smiled meekly.

"Anyways change of topic, who's turn is it to make dinner? I'm hungry." Aloha said.

"Who's turn is it? I'm pretty sure it's Cobbler's" Prince responded.

"Cobbler's? Then that means-" Naomi starts.

"Mac N' Cheese time!" Cobbler exclaimed.

"Cobbler, you DO have the ability to make something other than boxed Mac N Cheese right?" Aloha asked.

"Of course I do." Cobbler said. "I can make other stuff."

"Like what?" Aloha asked. Prince sighed.

"Uh, like sandwiches and microwave stuff." Cobbler said.

"At least she can make things." Naomi said.

"Really? Natasha didn't-" Aloha said before stopping himself. Naomi chuckled.

"You can talk about her, you know, it's not like she's dead or anything." She says.

"I know but... it's still weird." Aloha admits.

"Speaking of Natasha, have you heard from Tanya in awhile?" Naomi asks. The rest of the group shake their heads.

"I assume she's still focused on finding Tina." Cobbler shrugs.

"I hope she hasn't been captured." Prince sighs.

"She hasn't, we would've heard if she was. Plus, this is Tanya we're talking about." Naomi points out.

Prince nods. "I guess you're right."

"Anyways..." Aloha says.

The atmosphere tenses, the room is filled with silence as it usually is during meals. The only sounds heard are the clinks of silverware hitting dishes.

"Uh, does anyone want to hear a joke?" Naomi asks awkwardly.

"Sure." Prince says.

"Alright, uh, let me think of one." Naomi says. "Oh I've got one!, I gave away all my old zapfish today, free of charge!"

"That was awful Naomi." Cobbler groans.

"It was the only one I could think of." Naomi chuckles.

"I thought it was funny." Prince smiles. Aloha rolls his eyes.

"You both have no sense of humor." He smirks.

"Huh?" Cobbler says.

"Prince thinks even the simplest jokes are funny, while Cobbler thinks the weirdest trash on the face of this planet is funny."

"Raw poptart." Naomi says. Cobbler nearly chokes on her macaroni.

"See?" Aloha points out.

"Alright, you got me there." Cobbler admits.

"Anyways, I'm going to bed." Aloha says standing up.

"Aww, already?" Naomi whines.

"What else is there to do?" Aloha responds.

"Stay up until 3 am watching the weird side of Squidtube?" Cobbler suggests.

"No." Prince scolds.

"Well, besides that." Aloha says.

"Watch the weird side of-"

"It was a rhetorical question, Cobbler."

"My bad."

Aloha turns around and walks down the hallway to the guest bedroom. The room falls into awkward silence once again.

"Well, thanks Cobbler." Naomi says standing up.

"Yeah, I'll cook something different next time." Cobbler answers.

"Er, good night then." Prince says.

"Night." Cobbler and Naomi respond. Prince goes down the hall to the guest bedroom while Cobbler follows Naomi into her room.

"Well that was-" Cobbler starts.

"Awkward?" Naomi finishes.

"Mhm." Cobbler hums.

"Well, it'll get better hopefully." Naomi says.

"I hope so." Cobbler mumbles.

Cobbler sits on her mattress and sighs, opening up her laptop.

"I'm gonna go to bed too." Naomi says grabbing her pajamas from the drawer.

"Alright." Cobbler answers. Naomi opens the door to the bathroom to change, and emerges a few moments later.

"Night." Naomi says crawling into her bed.

"Night." Cobbler answers.

Meanwhile in the guest bedroom, Prince lays on his mattress staring at the ceiling. He felt that within the last few weeks, the four of them have started to grow sick of eachother. Of course he could be overthinking it, but a part of him felt that the atmosphere was more tense. He assumed that it was just possibly stress.

Yeah, that was it, stress.

Prince sighed and rolled onto his side, forcing his eyes shut. Sleep wasn't coming easy today. Prince shifted onto his other side and glanced at Aloha. How did he find sleep so easily these days? The past few days Prince hadn't been able to fall asleep easily, as his entire body was just full of anxiety.

Was he the only one who felt that way.

Prince shut his eyes again, hoping sleep would find him soon enough. Prince laid in the silence of the dark room, sleep almost finding him before he heard a sudden sound.

"Hello, is anyone from the Squidbeak group around?"

The radio?

"Aloha, wake up." Prince said flinging a pillow at his roommate. Aloha groaned.

"What do you want..." He mumbled.

"Listen!" Prince exclaimed. "Yes?" Prince said into the microphone of the radio.

"Are you all there?" The voice said.

"Er, no." Prince responded. "Aloha can you go get them?"

"Mhm." Aloha hummed heading out the door. Moments later Aloha came back with Cobbler and Naomi.

"Alright, we're all here." Prince said.

"Okay, alright everyone, this is Pearl here. Sorry for the late broadcast. I have received information that could possibly help us locate Agent 4."

The room was silent for a few moments before Naomi broke the silence.

"Nat?!?!?!" She exclaimed in shock.


	3. Figuring it out.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the filler chapter lol

The very first rays of morning sun peeked through the blinds into the silent apartment. A certain octoling sits already awake at the edge of her bed. Naomi scrolls through the photos on her phone. She sighs and locks her phone, setting it on the nightstand. She lays back down in an attempt to get more sleep, but her anxiety keeps her from falling asleep. Naomi groans and sits up, scanning the room around her. A hint of sadness fills her, knowing that this room used to be Natasha's.

No.

She had to stay positive, pouting wouldn't get her anywhere would it?

Naomi takes a deep breath and heads to the bathroom, hoping a shower would ease her anxiety. 

After showering and getting into her daytime clothes, Naomi heads into the living room, she expected to be the only one up, so she was quite surprised to see Prince on the couch watching the television.

"Prince?" Naomi whispers. Prince jumps in surprise and turns his head toward Naomi.

"Huh? Oh, it's you." Prince says. "What're you doing up?"

"You have no right to ask that." Naomi jokes.

"I suppose I don't." Prince smiles. Naomi waltz over to the T.V.

"What'cha watching?" She asks. Prince shrugs

"Some cooking show, it was just on." He says.

"That gives me an idea..." Naomi says.

————————————————

"You literally said last night you couldn't make anything." Aloha says.

"Oh shut up." Cobbler says. "We're having pancakes and that's what matters."

"I can BAKE, not cook." Naomi says. Prince sighs.

"You guys have been in the same room for thirty minutes, could you maybe be a LITTLE nicer to each other?" He says.

"It's Aloha's fault." Cobbler says.

"Whatever." Aloha smiles.

"Just take your pancakes, idiots." Naomi says shoving a plate at the both of them.

"Thanks dude." Cobbler says, taking off with the pancakes, Aloha following her. Prince sighs and pours four glasses of milk and brings them to the table.

"Thanks." Cobbler says again. "Aloha say thank you."

"Eh?" Aloha says. "Oh, thanks Prince." Prince chuckles.

"You're welcome."

Naomi and Prince both sit down, Naomi eating in a hurried fashion.

"You're eating rather fast Naomi, you don't want to get sick." Prince points out.

"Oops." Naomi says in between bites.

"Something bothering you?" Aloha asks. Cobbler punches Aloha in the arm.

"Ow, what the hell?" Aloha swears. Cobbler makes a neck slice motion and makes the number four with her fingers. Aloha makes the letter "o" with his mouth.

"Seriously? How stupid are you?" Cobbler jokes.

"At least I have a sense of humor." Aloha responds.

"I- Huh? How does that even relate to me calling you stupid?" Cobbler says in confusion.

"Settle down you two, please?" Prince asks.

"Sorry dad." Aloha mumbles.

"I heard that." Prince sighs. Cobbler stifles a giggle.

"Anyways.." He sighs. "Naomi, we all know what's on your mind, so go ahead." Naomi slams both her hands on the table and stands up, her fork hitting her plate with a clink.

"I think we go look for Natasha now, we're losing time with each hour we wait!" She exclaims.

"I agree." Aloha says raising his hand.

"I would too, but there's a bit of a problem." Prince admits.

"What problem? I thought Pearl knew where she was?" Naomi asks.

"She does, but that's just the problem." Prince sighs. Cobbler grabs Naomi's arm and brings her back into her seat.

"You see," he continues. "Natasha's in the outskirts of Inkopolis Plaza."

"The plaza? Really?" Aloha asks. Prince nods.

"That place is a ghost town now isn't it? I've never been." Naomi questions.

"For the most part." Cobbler responds. "It's mostly business now."

"That should make it easier for us, right?" Naomi says.

"Not exactly, we'd have to go through the square to get to the entrance of the plaza, and even then, I doubt the plaza is lightly guarded if a squidbeak agent is there." Prince points out.

"We could cross through octarian territory!" Naomi exclaimed.

"With an octarian labelled as AWOL?" Aloha asks skeptically.

"Not if we don't go near my old base." Naomi insists.

"We can use that as a last resort." Prince says.

"We DO have one pair of deactivated glasses." Cobbler points out.

"Yeah, ONE, genius." Aloha says.

"I was just saying..." Cobbler mumbles.

"We could always give Prince the shades." Naomi says.

"Me?" Prince questions.

"Yep." Naomi responds. "Pretend you're bringing us back to Marina or something."

"That in theory could work." Prince says.

"Maybe, but would they just let us in?" Cobbler asks.

"Good point." Naomi agrees.

"Then what DO we do?" Aloha questions. No one says a word.

"Let's look at a bigger picture." Prince says. "We found Natasha, if we wait a few days, maybe a few more reports can come in."

"And if they don't?" Aloha suggests.

"Then... we make a new plan." Prince responds.

"So we wait?" Naomi says.

"We wait." Prince nods.


	4. Visitor

Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into days. Tensions grew and awkward conversations during meals became the new normal. The only decision that had been made was that Prince would be in charge of decision making. Of course, discomfort with this decision arose rather quickly.

"We've been waiting for over a week, how much longer do we have to wait?" Aloha snapped.

"Just one more week, we decided this." Prince responded.

"We don't HAVE one more week." Aloha exclaimed.

"Aloha, please calm down." Naomi begged. "I'm sure it'll get better."

"You keep saying that." Aloha says.

"Yeah, but-" A knock on the door cut off Naomi's sentence. The room falls silent.

"Were we supposed to have company?" Aloha whispers.

"I don't think so." Prince whispers back. Cobbler pokes her head out from the hallway.

"What's going on?" She whispers.

"Someones at the door." Naomi replies.

"I'll peek." Aloha says suddenly. Cobbler quickly follows behind. Aloha peers through the peephole. After a few seconds he steps away and shrugs. Cobbler stands in front of her and lifts herself onto her toes to see through the peephole.

"It's Tanya!" Cobbler exclaims.

"Really?" Naomi says running towards the door. Naomi nudges Cobbler to the side and looks through the peephole.

"It is!" She chirps in excitement. Naomi quickly unlocks the door and brings Tanya inside.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long." Tanya says.

"Shh!" Naomi says locking the door again. "Okay you can talk now." Tanya rolls her eyes.

"I believe we should sit down, I have much to discuss with you all." She says. Cobbler and Naomi nod with anticipation and head towards the living room. Prince stands up from the table and follows them along with Aloha and Tanya. Naomi grabs a pillow and squeezes it, sitting on the couch. Tanya sits beside Naomi while the rest of the group sits on the rug.

"Well?" Naomi says with her eyes wide. "What is it?"

"I have information regarding the location and retrieval of your missing agent." Tanya says. "But I need you to listen closely, Natasha will not likely come willingly."

"Why not?" Naomi says.

"Well, it's likely she won't remember any of us." Tanya responds. "If you know anything about being brainwashed." Naomi mumbles something incoherent and looks down at the floor.

"That's why this is going to be a two-person mission." Tanya says.

"What!" Cobbler exclaims. "But I thought-"

"Listen to me." Tanya says cutting off Cobbler. "I don't want to bring a whole brigade into the plaza." Tanya points at Prince. "Especially since I won't hear the end of it from your sister if something happens to you." she says. "And you." Tanya says pointing at Aloha. "I'm sorry but I don't think I want to take the leader of team pink with me on a rescue mission."

"The party animal himself." Aloha smiles.

"Unfortunately." Tanya says pointing at Cobbler. "I don't have a good enough excuse to not bring you, so I guess you're coming with me."

"Tanya, wait." Naomi says. "I don't understand why we can't all go."

"It's dangerous if we all go in a big group. Like I said, I don't want to bring a big brigade." Tanya responds.

"Don't worry Naomi. Me and Aloha will stay here and wait for you and Cobbler's return." Prince reassures.

"Yeah." Aloha nods. "Don't worry about us."

"Are you sure?" Naomi says. Aloha gives a thumbs up.

"Now that we've got THAT settled. Can the two of you come with me?" Tanya says pointing at Naomi and Cobbler.

"At least let us hear the plan." Aloha says.

"Fine." Tanya agrees reluctantly. "The in two days, Naomi and the other one-"

"Cobbler." Cobbler interrupts.

"Whatever, Naomi and Cobbler will be coming with me to Inkopolis Plaza. We'll be using an undercover route to reach Natasha's speculated location." Tanya finishes.

"What happens if we find her?" Naomi questions.

"We'll judge the situation." Tanya nods. "Worst case scenario is that she's completely brainwashed and will fight us the second we make her uncomfortable."

"So we're hoping that she'll be reasonable and come with us?" Cobbler asks.

"Correct." Tanya answers.

"As for us?" Prince speaks up.

"For you, I want you two to be here waiting for when we bring her back, chances are she'll be delirious after the brainwashing effect wears off and she'll need immediate bed rest."

"But where do we put her? There isn't much room in here with all of us." Aloha says.

"She can use my bed, it's fine." Naomi insists. Aloha nods.

"I'm arranging with Pearl to bring a medical inkling just in case, I'll let you know what she looks like so you can look out for her." Aloha and Prince nod.

"I hope you two understand what a big job you have." Tanya says. "I need you to make this apartment as unstimulating as possible." Aloha and Prince nod again.

"Aloha, think of it as when I would have irrelevant panic attacks when I was eleven." Cobbler says.

"Sure." Aloha smiles.

"I'm counting on all of you." Tanya says standing up. "I'll be back in two days time."

"Oh, and Cobbler, Naomi?" Tanya says before she exits the apartment.

"Yeah?" Cobbler and Naomi respond.

"Bring your turfing weapons, you'll probably need them."


	5. Rescue mission

"So which one do I bring."

"Huh?"

"Which weapon?"

Naomi sighs. "Cobbler, bring whichever one you're best at using."

"But that's the thing!" Cobbler exclaims.

"What?" Naomi asks.

"Do I bring the nouveau?" Cobbler says holding up the inkbrush. "Or do I bring this?" Cobbler says holding up another weapon.

"The Sploosh-O-Matic?" Naomi questions. Cobbler nods. "Why would you bring that one?" Naomi asks.

"Because of its sub weapon." Cobbler responds. "The nouveau only has the inkmine and I might need to use a sub weapon."

"Isn't Sploosh a curling bomb?" Naomi says. Cobbler nods.

"Yeah, but the problem is I'm less experienced with other weapons that feature other subs."

Naomi presses her finger to her chin.

"Bring the Inkbrush." She says. "I can focus on the subs."

"You have suction bombs, right?" Cobbler asks.

"Yep, we also both have ballers." Naomi adds. Cobbler rubs her hands together enthusiastically.

"That's right!" She grins. "Oh, that could work out nicely." Naomi chuckles a bit.

"We're on the same team Cobbler, you should know by now we both have the same special."

"I forget sometimes." Cobbler shrugs. Naomi shakes her head.

"You're an idiot." Naomi smiles.

"I know." Cobbler responds. Cobbler places the Inkbrush in it's carrying case and slings it over her shoulder. "Tanya should be here any minute." Naomi nods, grabbing her dualies from the closet and slinging the case over her shoulder. Cobbler follows closely behind.

"Aloha, I swear to cod if I find another pair of socks randomly in the hallways I'm going to splat you." Cobbler says stopping in the middle of the hallway near the guest bedroom.

"Sorry!" Aloha calls from the room. Cobbler kicks the socks into the room.

"Darnit, Cobbler." Aloha says. "You nearly hit Prince in the face."

"Sorry Prince!" Cobbler exclaims.

"It's fine!" Prince calls.

"Tanya will be here soon." Naomi reminds them.

"Sorry." Cobbler says.

"Don't be. I know you're anxious." Naomi reassures. Cobbler nods awkwardly. Prince runs out of the guest bedroom.

"Be safe!" He says running up to Cobbler and Naomi.

"We will." Cobbler reassures Prince.

"Promise me you two will come back safely, I don't think I could handle being alone with just Aloha." Prince whispers.

"We promise." Naomi says crossing her hand over her hearts. Prince nods and quickly hugs the both of them, before running off again.

"Okay, so we're replacing Aloha?" Cobbler says.

"Huh?" Naomi responds.

"We're replacing Aloha with Prince as our best friend."

"Works for me."

Naomi and Cobbler giggle. Just then, a knock on the door is heard. Cobbler and Naomi both turn their head towards the door, then back at each other.

"Well?" Cobbler says.

"Let's go." Naomi nods.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Er, Tanya? Why are we behind the apartment?" Cobbler asks.

"Because we have to be secretive, idiot." Tanya responds bitterly.

"I know that but-"

"Shut up."

Tanya leads Naomi and Cobbler into an alleyway behind the apartment. The alley is narrow and littered with garbage. A tall brick wall blocks the end of it.

"Are we supposed to climb over it?" Naomi gasps.

"Yes." Tanya says, already crossing the wall." Naomi shrugs and proceeds to scale the wall.

"Uh." Cobbler mutters.

"Oh, I forgot you were short." Naomi responds.

"Very funny." Cobbler groans.

"Just super jump to me." Naomi suggests. Cobbler nods and switches into her squid form, super-jumping to her octarian friend. Tanya waits a moment, before continuing walking down an even darker alleyway.

"Stay close." Tanya whispers. The three of them walk in darkness for what feels like hours, but in actuality was only a couple minutes before reaching a wired gate. Tanya turns into her squid form and slides through a tear in the gate. Cobbler and Naomi follow Tanya's example and slide through the gate's tear. When they revert back to their humanoid forms, they notice that they are no longer in the square.

"Inkopolis Plaza?" Naomi asks. Tanya nods.

"This way." She says. Tanya leads Cobbler and Naomi to a seemingly abandoned building. The main entrance is barricaded, but a broken window big enough for an inkling to squeeze through sits near a ladder. Tanya runs up the stairs quickly followed by Cobbler and Naomi.

The room they entered appears to be empty, it's only inhabitants being a dusty shelf and a few chairs. Tanya quickly begins searching the room, only to stop at the door.

"She's out there." Tanya says. "Naomi, use your suction bomb on the door please." Noami nods and throws a suction bomb, the bomb sticking to the door. The three of them step back as purple ink explodes everywhere, destroying the door.

"Follow me." Tanya says running down the hall. Cobbler and Naomi run after Tanya. Tanya stops in the middle of the hall and takes out her N-Zap '89. "Come on out Four, we know you're out there." Tanya whispers crouching down. Tanya places an autobomb on the ground. The autobomb waddles over to the end of the hall towards a crack in the wall. It explodes into a bunch of green ink, and a teal squid pops out of the crack.

"Nat!" Naomi half squeals - half whispers.

"Clever hiding spot." Tanya smiles. The teal colored squid reverts back to it's humanoid form to reveal an average-height inkling with a large black sweater covering her body and a tattered white scarf is wrapped around her neck.

"She's still wearing the scarf..." Naomi mutters.

"Stay back." Tanya warns. Naomi and Cobbler backup to the end of the hallway. Tanya slowly approaches Natasha. Natasha's eyes widen and she quickly takes out her custom Splattershot Jr., firing the weapon at Tanya. Tanya jumps out of the way and points her N'Zap '89 towards Natasha.

"Tanya no!" Naomi exclaims. Natasha's head turns towards Naomi. Natasha places an autobomb at her feet and runs towards Naomi. Tanya grunts and jumps over the autobomb towards Naomi's direction. Natasha is quicker and makes it to Naomi first. Natasha fires her weapon at Naomi's face, but a splash of pink ink counters the teal ink.

"Nice going Cobbler." Tanya grins. Natasha growls in frustration and turns back to Tanya, aiming her weapon at Tanya.

"Nat please!" Naomi exclaims. "It's us!" Natasha pauses for a moment and her ears twitch. Tanya backs away slowly. Natasha notices Tanya's movement and fires ink at her, Tanya just barely dodges.

"Be careful you guys, I just realized something." Tanya whispers.

"What?" Naomi asks.

"There isn't a respawn point."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Naomi crosses her hand over her "hearts", this is not a typo! Real life octopi have three hearts! I headcanon octarians with having three hearts.


	6. Ink on the walls.

"What?" Naomi and Cobbler exclaimed.

"There isn't a respawn point." Tanya repeated.

"So that means-" Cobbler started.

"If we splat her, she might not come back." Tanya finishes.

"MIGHT not?" Naomi questions, dodging a splash of ink shot from Natasha's weapon.

"It depends on when and where she last respawned." Tanya says. "If she respawned within 48 hours at a close-enough spawn-point she could POSSIBLY respawn there. It's highly unlikely though."

"So what do we do?" Naomi asks.

"Shoot near her, but not directly at her." Tanya says. "And try not to use any bombs." she adds after dodging another one of Natasha's autobombs.

"Uh." Cobbler says. "Can she splat us?"

"Yes, so watch your back." Tanya says shooting ink near Natasha's head. Natasha jumps and tosses an autobomb at Tanya before turning and firing at Natasha and Naomi.

"There's no room to dodge in here!" Naomi shouts running into Cobbler.

"Place a suction bomb on the door." Cobbler suggests.

"Distract Nat then." Naomi nods, placing a suction bomb on one of the hallway doors. Cobbler quickly runs in a circle around Natasha with her brush, pink ink trailing behind her. Natasha fires quickly at Cobbler, chasing after the quicker inkling. The door explodes in a flurry of purple ink. Natasha whirls around towards Naomi and the open door.

"Crap." Naomi mutters. Natasha launches herself towards Naomi. Naomi dodge rolls to the side to escape Natasha's grasp.

"Natasha! What are you doing?" Naomi exclaims. Natasha pauses, even though her eyes were covered by the shades, it appeared she was staring at Naomi.

"Stop." Natasha whispers.

"Huh?" Naomi says.

"Just get away from me!" Natasha screams firing at Naomi once more. Naomi barely escapes the burst of ink.

"Naomi! Tanya and I broke more doors!" Cobbler calls. Natasha whirls around towards the source of Cobbler's shouting.

"Nat wait!" Naomi calls out in desperation. It's too late, Natasha has already set after the two other inklings. Luckily, Cobbler has already noticed Natasha and runs away using her inkbrush. Natasha shoots at Cobbler, allowing Tanya to escape the agent's fury. Tanya aims her N'Zap at Natasha's weapon, shooting the weapon out of her hand.

"Cobbler! Grab her weapon!" Cobbler nods and redirects her brush towards the fallen Splattershot, grabbing it before Natasha can.

"Give that back!" Natasha exclaims, reaching for the weapon. Cobbler dashes away again. Tanya grabs Natasha by her shoulders.

"Nat, take a deep breath." Tanya pants.

"Stop calling me that." Natasha snarls.

"What?" Tanya says in confusion.

"Nat, I'm not Nat. I'm Natasha." She snaps.

"Please just listen to us." Tanya begs.

"No!" Natasha shouts, squirming to escape Tanya's grasp. "Let go of me!"

"Four." Naomi says. Natasha breaks from Tanya's grasp.

"What?" Natasha asks. "Am I four too?"

"Yes." Naomi nods.

"Natasha, Four, please-" Tanya starts.

"Shut up!" Natasha screams. "Both of you!" Natasha turns toward Cobbler, who is making confused circles with her inkbrush. "Give me back my weapon!"

"Er, no." Cobbler says. Natasha launches herself towards Cobbler in frustration, only to fall onto the ground.

"Natasha! It's me Naomi!" Naomi says in desperation.

"Naomi..." Natasha mumbles. "I don't know Naomi." She snaps. Naomi's face falls, heartbreak written all over her face."

"We can help you find Marie!" Tanya says suddenly.

"Marie? Marie is fine." Natasha insists. "Wait. How do you know Marie?" Natasha says suddenly.

"Just trust us." Tanya says. "We can bring Marie back to you." Natasha pauses for a moment.

"Is this true?" She says looking between Cobbler and Naomi, who both nod. "O-okay then." Natasha says.

Tanya smiles, removing the shades from Natasha's face. Natasha blinks a few times, then collapses to the ground.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natasha sits up rubbing her head. "What the..." She mumbles.

"Nat!" Naomi cries.

"Naomi, calm down." Tanya calls from far off.

"Where-Wha?" Natasha says in confusion.

"It's okay." an inkling with long yellow tentacles reassures. "You're alright."

"Am I-" Natasha starts before laying back down. "My head hurts." She says. The inkling with yellow tentacles hands Natasha a glass of water, who accepts it gratefully. Natasha stares at the ceiling for a moment, before drifting back off into unconsciousness.

"Is she okay?" Naomi whispers. The medical inkling nods.

"She'll be just fine, she just needs rest." She reassures. "Speaking of which, so do you three." She adds, pointing at Cobbler, Tanya, and Naomi.

"I'm fine." Tanya insists. The medical inkling shakes her head and smiles.

"Please, you'll feel so much better when you wake up." She says.

"Works for me." Cobbler says. Tanya sighs, but heads towards the living room, Cobbler following behind.

"Er, can I stay in here?" Naomi asks. The medical nurse nods. "Thank you." Naomi whispers, laying down on the mattress on the floor. Naomi closes her eyes, and waits for sleep to arrive. All that arrives is insomnia. Naomi listens to the nurse shuffle around for a while, before leaving the room. Naomi doesn't know how long the nurse is gone for before she feels sleep tugging at her body. Reluctantly, Naomi allows it, and falls into a dreamless sleep.

About twenty minutes after Naomi falls asleep, Natasha awakens again, this time fully. She looks around the room, head still pounding. "Where am I.." She mutters. After her eyes fully adapt to the light, Natasha realises where she is.

"My old apartment?" She says. "But why.." She looks down on the night stand to see a pile of crackers, a glass of water, and a note. Natasha eats one of the crackers and reads the note.

When you wake up, a nice change of clothes is in the bathroom for you. Feel free to shower and freshen up however you like.

"A shower sounds nice.." Natasha mutters. She slips out of bed slowly, stumbling as her feet make contact with the floor. "It's dark." She notices. "What time is it?" Natasha glances around the room again, this time noticing Naomi. "Naomi?" Natasha calls, before realizing Naomi is asleep. Natasha walks over to the mattress, before bending down and fixing Naomi's blankets.

"Poor thing, aren't you cold?" Natasha whispers. She smiles. "Maybe everything's alright since you're here... but where's Marie?" Her smile drops. Where was Marie? Natasha sighs and stands up, walking into the bathroom. After noticing herself in the mirror, Natasha groans.

"What am I wearing?" She giggles to herself. "This sweater is atrocious, why is it so big? And why are these sleeves so-"

Natasha pauses rolling up her sleeve for a moment, before screaming.


	7. Recovering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for self harm

Naomi's head bolts up. She wasn't sure what had awakened her at first, but the sight of Natasha missing from her bed and light coming from the bathroom alerted her.

"Nat!" Naomi cried, jumping up from her mattress. Naomi scrambled over to the bathroom and pushed open the door. She was greeted by the sight of Natasha seated on the tile staring at her arms. Naomi could see Cobbler, Tanya, and Prince's heads poking into the room in the mirror.

"Are you alright?" The medical inkling says, pushing through the group of people. Natasha trembles.

"My arms." She whispers. The medical inkling carefully walks over to Natasha and motions for her to show her arms. Natasha stretches one arm out and the medical inkling takes a quick look at it.

"What's wrong? Er- what's your name?" Naomi says.

"Honey." The medical inkling says. "Also, it appears that she has several untreated cuts across her arms. I'll be right back." Honey stands up and heads back into the bedroom. Tanya waltzes into the bathroom and looks at Natasha's arms.

"Do you know how you got these?" Tanya asks. Natasha shakes her head slowly. Naomi slowly steps back and accidentally bumps into Cobbler.

"Sorry." Cobbler mutters.

"Why are YOU sorry?" Naomi whispers back. Cobbler shakes her head and shrugs. Honey comes back in with a medical bag.

"Please stand back." Honey says to Tanya. Tanya backs up and joins the rest of the group. Honey shuffles through the bag and pulls out some cleansing wipes and carefully drags them across Natasha's arm. Honey silently gestures for the other one and wipes that arm as well. Honey then shuffles around the bag once more and pulls out some bandages and carefully wraps them up Natasha's arms.

"There." She says standing up.

"Is she alright?" Aloha says suddenly.

"Holy cod Aloha I didn't know you were here." Cobbler whispers. Tanya shushes both of them.

"She's just fine." Honey reassures. "She'll just need to cleanse the wounds every now and then to make sure they heal correctly, since they're more likely to get irritated since it appears she used her hands to make these wounds."

"I don't recall doing that." Natasha whispers. Honey smiles sympathetically.

"It's alright, it's not just you. You likely did it when you were brainwashed in order to feel something." she says. A flash of sympathy and pain appears on Tanya's face for a brief moment.

"It's happened to other people?" Prince asks. Honey nods.

"Yes, some of the other patients I've taken care of after rescue have these same wounds, usually on the arms."

Natasha sighs. "Well... Guess I'll get changed." She says standing up. Honey nods and packs the medical bag. Tanya ushers the rest of the group away. Natasha changes into what she assumes are pajamas and glances at herself in the mirror again. She sighs again, before exiting the bathroom. Naomi is sitting on the mattress clutching her knees.

"Are you okay?"

Naomi perks her head up. "Er, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You usually aren't this anxious." Natasha replies.

"Maybe it's Cobbler rubbing off on me." Naomi suggests. Natasha laughs a little.

"I suppose."

"How are you feeling?" Naomi asks.

"Strange." Natasha admits. "I'm still not sure what happened or what exactly is going on, but all I know is that I'm safe now." Naomi smiles.

"I helped save you." She says.

"I don't doubt that. I'm sure you were very brave." Natasha smiles.

"So was Tanya, and Cobbler." Naomi adds.

"Cobbler?" Natasha says in confusion.

"Yeah, Prince and Aloha would've gone too but Tanya didn't want to bring Prince in case something happened to him which would've made Pearl upset, and Tanya didn't want to bring Aloha since he's a party animal." Naomi says.

"Ah, well that makes sense for Tanya. I suppose she couldn't figure out a reason not to bring Cobbler?" Natasha asks.

"Yep." Naomi answers. Natasha chuckles.

"I see." She says.

"Now go to bed." Naomi says.

"Hm? But I thought I was your mom." Natasha replies in confusion.

"Surrogate, I still get to do what I want if I so desire." Naomi smiles.

"Alright then." Natasha nods. "Guess I'm going to bed."

"Nighty Night." Naomi says.

"Goodnight." Natasha responds.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The excitement of the night before disturbed everyone's restfulness, so everyone was up early. Prince was sitting on the couch, sewing a scarf.

"You can sew?" Cobbler asks sitting beside him.

"Yes. I learned how so I could fix my gear without bothering N-Pacer." Prince responds.

"Ah." Cobbler nods. "Are you making that?" Prince shakes his head.

"That's Nat's." Naomi butts in. "He's fixing it."

"Oh." Cobbler answered. She continued to watch Prince fix the scarf curiously.

"Where'd the medical inkling girl go?" Aloha asks from the table.

"She'll be back soon." Tanya responds, sipping a cup of coffee. Natasha sits down beside Tanya with a cup of coffee.

"Does anyone else want some?" Natasha asks.

"No thanks."

"Nope. Thanks though."

"Nah.

"Sure."

"Aloha? You never struck me as a coffee drinker." Cobbler says in surprise.

"Yeah well, I'm tired okay?" Aloha says.

"It's because Army drinks it." Naomi says teasingly.

"Wah? No." Aloha says obviously flustered.

"Told you." Naomi purrs in amusement. Natasha giggles and begins to stand up.

"I'll make it." Tanya says standing up.

"I've got it." Natasha assures.

"Nope. You sit down." Tanya says running to the coffee machine. "You need rest still."

"It's just coffee-"

"Nope."

Natasha rolls her eyes in amusement. "Whatever." Prince stands up and brings the scarf over to Natasha.

"Here you go, miss, good as new." He says.

"Oh? Thank you." Natasha smiles. Prince grins and walks away.

"Is that even legal?" Cobbler whispers sitting beside Naomi on the couch.

"Is what even legal?" She responds.

"For him to be this cute." Cobbler says.

"So you do like him?" Naomi says.

"Platonically, besides you know perfectly well who I like." Cobbler whispers.

"N-Pacer?" Naomi grins.

"No- I mean yes but-"

"Tell me more." Naomi insists.

"Oh my cod Naomi it's a celebrity crush." Cobbler sighs.

"Bet you think she's hot." Naomi teases.

"Naomi!" Cobbler exclaims, face reddening.

"Ah yes, I think Cobbler is having another gay panic." Aloha says.

"aLOHA-" Cobbler says voice cracking. Prince looks at them, confused.

"Yeah, but we do know who you like, it's the octoling with the green tentacles." Aloha says.

"I hate you guys sometimes. " Cobbler sighs.

"Love you too~" Aloha responds.

"Er, what's going on?" Prince asks.

"Cobbler's in love with N-" Naomi starts.

"Vintage." Aloha finishes smugly.

"What? Ew no I hate him." Cobbler says, pretending to gag.

"Do you know what's happening?" Tanya asks Natasha, resting her head on her palm.

"Nope." Natasha says shaking her head.

"It's because we're boring adults isn't it."

"Yep."

Just then a knock on the door is heard.

"I'll get it." Prince says, looking for a chance to escape whatever madness was going on with Cobbler, Naomi, and Aloha.

Prince opens the door and is greeted by the sight of Honey.

"Oh, hello." Prince says.

"Greetings." Honey responds. "May I come in?" Prince nods. The sight of Honey is enough to stop the mayhem ensuing in the living room.

"Oh, Hi Honey!" Naomi greets.

"That sounds like you're saying hi to your partner using a pet name." Aloha points out.

"I get that a lot." Honey replies slightly unamused.

"Hello." Tanya says.

"Hi." Honey says, sitting down at the table. "How are you feeling?" She asks Natasha.

"Oh, I'm feeling fine. A lot better than last night." Natasha answers.

"That's good." Honey nods. "Anyways, I assume you don't know of the plan to relocate your group?"

Tanya and Natasha both shake their heads. The rest of the group hear this and walk over to the table in curiosity.

"We're relocating?" Aloha asks. Honey nods.

"Yes, we're relocating you guys to a larger residence with another group of cephalopods.

"Really? Who?" Naomi asks, eyes sparkling.

"Their names are Goggles, Rider, Mask, and Bobble Hat." Honey says.

"Oh no." Aloha says. Cobbler bursts out laughing.

"Oh my god Aloha you must be thrilled." She says.

"Well, this is just great." Aloha groans. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, I'll see you then."


	8. Commute

Beep Beep Beep

The beeping of the alarm clock rang in Aloha's ears. He groaned, pushing his face deeper into the pillows. His body begged him to return to unconsciousness, but the plans of the day were nagging at his brain. Aloha groaned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He yawned, and glanced around the room, his sight still blurry. He noticed a figure standing by the window.

"Prince? You're already up?" He yawned. "And why are you wearing your eminence jacket?" He added once his sight cleared up.

Prince whirls around, startled.

"Ah, morning Aloha!" Prince says.

"That doesn't answer the question." Aloha says, finally gathering the strength to roll out of bed.

"I just had the feeling, you know? Like you have the feeling to do something and you can't quite explain why?" Prince admits.

"You sound like Cobbler." Aloha smirks.

"You three seem awfully close." Prince says.

"Cobbler and I grew up next door to each other, then the purple one wound up meeting Cobbler somewhere and now we're here." Aloha responds.

"I see." Prince says, smiling weakling.

"Wait, I wasn't trying to be insensitive." Aloha says suddenly.

"Hm? Oh no, I was genuinely curious." Prince responds.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Prince walks to exit the room, but then pauses at the doorway.

"You should start getting ready, we'll be leaving before you know it." He says. Aloha nods. Aloha stares at the doorway for a moment, before getting up to shower.

After Aloha finishes showering, getting dressed, and stuffing the rest of his belongings into a suitcase, he enters the living room to see the rest of the group waiting anxiously.

"Holy carp you guys, it's like 7:30 in the morning." Aloha says.

"I know." Cobbler says absentmindedly doodling something in her sketchbook.

"I'm usually up at this time." Prince says.

"He sleeps late." Cobbler tells Prince. Prince nods in understanding.

"At least I'm asleep before 3 a.m." Aloha remarks.

"You got me there." Cobbler says. Prince looks Naomi in confusion, who just shrugs.

"If you two could use more than three of your brain cells, breakfast is ready." Tanya says.

"Sweet." Aloha says standing up.

"We made muffins!" Naomi says excitedly. Cobbler's ears perk up.

"What kind?" Prince asks.

"Blueberry and chocolate chip." Naomi says proudly. Prince takes one of the blueberry muffins eagerly.

"Anyways." Tanya says. "Pearl will be here in about 10 minutes-"

"Pearl?!" Prince says, nearly choking on his muffin.

"Yes, Pearl will be taking us to our new hideout for now." Natasha says.

"Cool." Cobbler says, taking a second chocolate chip muffin. "How many can we have?"

"As many as you'd like." Natasha chuckles.

"We made lots." Naomi adds. "We can bring them in the car too."

"Sweet." Cobbler says. Prince sighs.

There's a knock at the door.

"Pearl!" Prince exclaims.

"I'll get it." Tanya says stopping the younger inkling in his tracks. Prince huffs a little in annoyance.

"Yo." Pearl says after Tayna opens the door. "Grab your bags, we better hurry before it gets busy." 

Natasha nods and hands everyone their bags. Pearl beckons for the group to follow. One by one they file out the door and Natasha locks the door, before following the rest of the group.

"Here." Pearl says beckoning to a large vehicle. Pearl unlocks the car and opens the trunk, allowing everyone to throw in their luggage.

"Get in there, Cobbler." Aloha smirks.

"Very funny." Cobbler says. Nearby, Pearl counts with her fingers.

"There's the two front seats, and two rows of three." she says. "How many of us are there."

"Seven." Prince responds. "I'll sit with you up front." Pearl nods.

"Dibs on Cobbler and Nat." Naomi says.

"No way in hell I'm sitting next to Aloha for two hours." Tanya remarks. Aloha winks. Tanya scowls.

"Fiiiine you can have Nat." Naomi whines.

"Cobbler's in the middle." Aloha says sliding into the car.

"Oh I wonder why." Cobbler says sarcastically, climbing in after Aloha.

After everyone is settled, Pearl starts the car and drives off.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The car ride is rather uneventful. After two long hours, they finally pull into what appears to be a large cabin.

"This place is giving me creepily nostalgic vibes." Natasha says exiting the car.

"Same here." Pearl agrees.

"It does seem a bit creepily familiar." Naomi says. Tanya nods.

"Not for me." Cobbler says.

"Maybe it just reminds us of Cuttlefish Cabin or something." Pearl says shrugging. Natasha points her finger on her chin, looking down in thought. Pearl walks to the door and knocks, a dark-skinned inkling opens the door.

"Oh, just you guys." He says. "Come in." The group follows Pearl and the dark skinned inkling into the main room of the cabin.

"Who are they, Rider?" A voice calls.

"Aloha, Prince, and their friends." The dark skinned inkling calls back.

"Ohhhhhhhhh Great Aloooha's here" Another voice calls.

"Wait, Mask?" Cobbler says.

"Wait, you didn't tell me she was cooooooming." A cyan tentacled inkling wearing a Mask says entering the room.

"Hey." Cobbler smiles. Mask groans.

"Cheer up Masky~" Aloha says. Mask glares at Aloha

"You were just complaining about-" Naomi starts before Aloha cuts her off.

"Come, I'll show you to your rooms. Prince, you'll share a room with Mask if that's okay." Rider says before it could get anymore chaotic.

"That's fine." Prince nods.

"You two will be with Bobble." Rider says pointing at Cobbler and Naomi. "I don't know where she's at right now."

"I'm right here!" An inkling with short blue tentacles says entering the living room.

"Coooome with me." Mask says to Prince. Prince follows Mask down the hall. Bobble motions for Naomi and Cobbler to follow her.

"Relax for the day." Pearl says. "Tomorrow, we'll continue our search."


	9. Debate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoever can name the song cobbler is singing at the beginning gets a shoutout next chapter ;)))

"My daddy's got a charger-"

"Stop"

"My daddy's got a charger-"

"Shut the hell up."

"You better run!"

"Coooobbler you better start running before I personally splaaaat you."

Pearl sighed and glanced towards the scene that was taking place. She had promised everyone that they would continue searching for their missing friends, but she had hit a wall. Not to mention insomnia decided to come for a visit last night. Pearl groaned as she listened to what seemed to be some sort of argument between Mask and Cobbler.

She was supposed to be their leader! How was she supposed to lead a bunch of unstimulated teenagers when she was as unstimulated and confused as they were?

Nataha noticed Pearl and walked over to the table she was sitting at and pulled out a chair. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Pearl said. "Could you get everyone in the living room for me? I want to talk to all of you."

Natasha nods and walks off. Pearl sighs again before standing up and walking to the living room as well. The rest of the group is already in the living room. Pearl noticed that they seemed to be huddled with their original groups.

"You better get used to each other because it might be awhile." Pearl says.

"Suckssssss for you because I already haaaaaaaaaaaate most of the people here." Mask scoffs.

"Yeah, well deal with it." Pearl fires back. Bobble Hat turns into her squid form and places herself on Mask's lap.

"Clearly you don't haaaaaaaaaate everyone." Aloha says. Mask shoots Aloha a threatening glare.

"Can you all just like each other for a few minutes please?" Pearl says.

"Sorry." Aloha mumbles.

Pearl sighed. "We need to think of some sort of plan, because we need to keep searching for everyone and if we keep going at this rate it might be a year before everything is back to normal."

"Well that would suck." Mask scoffed. Tanya glares at Mask.

"We could send out more search parties." Rider says.

"Send them where?" Aloha butts in. "We've looked everywhere!"

"They could've moved, they aren't likely to stay in one spot." Rider points out.

"We have no leads." Aloha fires back.

"We had almost no leads for Natasha until a few days before her rescue." Naomi adds.

"So we're just going to wait some more?" Aloha says in annoyance.

"Which was the last search partyyyyyyyy youuuuuuuuuu went on?" Mask drones. Aloha sighs.

"So there's NOTHING else we can do?."

"As of now? All we can do is look for clues." Pearl says.

Aloha sighs in frustration. "Whatever."

"Anyways. We found Natasha at the outskirts of Inkopolis Plaza, right?" Cobbler says awkwardly.

"We can look there!" Goggles exclaims.

"But that's like, uncharted territory past there." Naomi says.

"Not really." Tanya says. "The world isn't just the square and the plaza."

"Like I didn't know that." Naomi mutters under her breath, not loud enough for Tanya to hear.

"What about octariaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan territory." Mask suggests.

"I've already been looking there." Tanya answers.

"We could keep looooooooking." Mask says.

"Hate to break it to you, but octarian territory isn't the safest place." Tanya scoffs.

"Are you suggesting I'm weak?" Mask fires back. "I'll tell you-"

"Alright, that's enough." Pearl says. "We'll start with the plaza." Mask grumbles in annoyance.

"So when do we leave?" Rider says.

"You can form a search party now if you'd like." Pearl responds.

Rider nods. "Come, Goggles." Goggles beams and leaps up from the floor.

"I'm coming too." Aloha blurts abruptly. Rider nods.

"Anyone else?" he asks. Tanya stands up and joins the group as well.

"Wait! How are you going to get there?" Naomi asks.

"I know a way." Rider says simply before exiting through the door.

"Don't stay out too late." Pearl says.

"Okay mom." Aloha says sarcastically. Pearl rolls her eyes.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prince sits on the couch, browsing the TV channels. He sighs. Most of the TV channels don't have any reception or are advertising "New Inkopolis." He kinda was glad Cobbler wasn't there, as she would be complaining. He turns his head as he hears the door unlock. The search party has returned.

"Did you find anything?" He asks. Rider shakes his head.

"I knew this would happen." Aloha scoffs. Rider glares at Aloha.

"Sorry Aloha." Prince mumbles. Aloha shrugs and walks off.

"Can't wait to share a room with him." Rider mumbles. Tanya still has her signature poker face and Goggles still wears his signature look as well.

Prince watches as they walk off. What was Aloha so upset about?

But most importantly,

Could he find out why before tensions flared to a dangerous point?


	10. Tense

Rider sat on the couch, scrolling through his phone. Raindrops raced down the window. A search party had left 30 minutes prior. He felt a ping of anxiety. Goggles was out with them. He hoped they had managed to stay dry. Rider sighed and set down his phone, listening as the rain gradually grew harder. A few minutes later, the door to the cabin burst open. A soaked Goggles, Cobbler, and Tanya stood at the door. Cobbler had something white balled up in her hands. 

“Are you alright?” Rider said running up to Goggles. Goggles smiles. 

“Yeah, just a bit cold.” Goggles says with a small shiver. 

“Come on, let’s get you warmed up.” Rider says. “You guys too.” Cobbler and Tanya nod and follow Goggles and Rider. 

“Guess what Rider!” Goggles says taking the blanket Rider offered him. 

“What is it Goggles?” Rider responds.

“Cobbler found something!” Goggles beams. 

“I noticed.” Rider nods. 

“It’s a bit muddy, but I think it’ll help us.” Cobbler says. 

“What is it?” Rider questions. 

“I’ll show everyone at the same time.” Cobbler answers simply.

“It’s a surprise!” Goggles adds.

“I see.” Rider says. Goggles gives a small sneeze. Rider sighs and pulls Goggles closer to him. Tanya’s face flashes a look of grief for a brief moment before it disappears. The four of them sit in silence before Cobbler stands up. 

“I think it’s time to present our finding.” Cobbler says. 

“I’ll gather everyone.” Rider says standing up. 

“Bring them to the living room.” Cobbler nods. Rider exits the room to gather the rest of the group. Within a few minutes, everyone is seated in the living room .

“Cobbler found something!” Goggles exclaims. Aloha’s ears perk up.

“Really?” He asks. Cobbler nods. 

“You see this?” Cobbler says raising up the bundle of white in her arms. 

“Get on with the point.” Mask scoffs. Cobbler rolls her eyes. She waits a moment before unfurling the white cloth.

“That’s Emperor’s jacket!” Prince says bolting up. 

“It is!” Natasha gasps. “Where’d you find it?” 

“In the wooded area by the square!” Cobbler responds.

“How do you know it’s Emperor’s and not N-Pacer’s?” Tanya asks skeptically. 

Prince walks over to Cobbler. “Emperor has a special embroidery!” He exclaims, taking the jacket from Cobbler’s arms. “I’ll be right back.” He says dashing away. He returns holding his own Eminence Jacket. “See?” He says laying the two side by side. Prince’s jacket has a smaller emblem than Emperor’s. 

“Do you think he’s near where you found himmmmmm?” Mask asks without his usual negative tone. 

“It’s possible.” Tanya responds. 

“Well this is great!” Natasha says.

“Wonderful.” Aloha adds with a hint of sarcasm, no one seems to pick it up, except for Prince who looks at Aloha with concern.

“We should get looking right away then.” Pearl suggests. “The longer we wait, the more time we give him to escape again.” 

“In this weather?” Nooooo waaaaaay.” Mask scoffs.

“The second it stops raining then.” Tanya says.

“What if that’s like, at 2 in the morning.” Aloha points out.

“I’ll go.” Cobbler says. 

“No you aren’t.” Prince responds. “No one is going at 3 in the morning.”

“He said two.” Cobbler points out. Prince rolls his eyes and Cobbler grins.

“Enough, we’ll form a party in the morning.” Pearl says. “Now go get ready for dinner.” 

“Mac and cheese?” Cobbler says hopefully.

“No.” Pearl says.

It’s grilled cheese again, but no one’s complaining, as everyone understands it isn’t exactly easy to acquire food items when you’re in hiding, so it’s grilled cheese today. 

“Did you know that grilled cheese is one of the oldest cuisines?” Cobbler says.

“I didn’t hear anyone ask.” Mask says. 

“I thought it was cool.” Natasha says. Cobbler flashes a look of pride and Mask rolls his eyes.

“You know, sometimes we would eat grilled cheese back in the octarian army.” Naomi says thoughtfully.

“Really?” Prince asks in surprise. Naomi nods.

“The bread was really stale and the cheese tasted kind of funny but it was better than most of our other meals.” She adds. 

“Sounds… interesting.” Rider says. Naomi shrugs.

“You never really know the difference if you grew up with it.” She says.

“That got deeeeeeep.” Mask drones. 

“Yeah.” Cobbler nodded.

Everyone got into a conversation about what kind of foods Naomi ate during her time as a soldier. Everyone except Prince and Aloha. Aloha stood up to put his plate in the sink and Prince found this as the time to get up and talk to him. Hurriedly eating the last few bites of his sandwich, Prince stood up and followed Aloha. 

“Why are you following me?” Aloha asked once they were out of earshot of the others. 

“I came to ask you what’s wrong, you seem upset.” Prince responded.

“Nothing’s wrong, Prince.” Aloha snapped. 

“Are you sure? You just seem-” 

“I’m fine, really.” Aloha said, cutting off Prince before walking away. Prince watched Aloha walk off.

What wasn’t Aloha telling them?


End file.
